World Fence News

34 • august 2016 • world fence news Visit Logical Decisions at www.ldi.com Your Gate Operator Specialist Find us on Steps to help minimize lightning damage to electric fence chargers courtesy kencove farm fence, inc. Almost every electric fence own- er has experienced the problem of having a fence charger damaged by lightning. This damage can be quite costly and really upsets your whole routine, not to mention the frustration of chasing loose livestock. It's not only a hassle to pack up the charger and send it away for re- pair, but when your livestock realize they don't get that sudden jolt when they come in contact with the fence, they seem to say to themselves "road trip" and away they go. We're not saying that this light- ning protection is going to completely eliminate damage to your charger, but it can mean the difference between a low cost repair or having to replace the entire unit. You need to protect both the in- put (120 volt source) and the output (fence) side of the charger. There are two options for the in- put side. One is the use of a power surge protector. Some studies have shown that the majority of damage is caused by surg- es from the utility side. The power surge protector is the easier of the two to install. This simple device plugs into your grounded receptacle with your charger cord connected to it. Some chargers don't have exter- nal access to the fuses, so the second option you might want to consider is to replace the original plug with a fused plug. This fused plug has two internal fuses that can be easily replaced if a problem should occur. Now for the output side. This is the side that usually takes the blunt force of a lightning strike to the fence line. Most chargers have some type of lightning surge protection built into their circuitry, but if a lightning strike gets past this, it usually means money out of pocket for a costly repair or re- placement. Since lightning naturally seeks ground by the path of least resistance, our discussion centers around giving it an easier route to ground other than through your charger. So here we go: When initially installing the char- ger, always follow the manufactur- er's recommendations regarding the ground bed and connections. This is of utmost importance if you want your charger to operate at peak efficiency. The first thing on the charger should be an electronic spark suppres- sor. This is to be hooked onto the hot terminal with the one wire and the ground terminal with the other wire. It is also helpful to mount a sec- ond one on the line connecting your lightning arrestor to independent ground rods. The lightning choke coil is to be mounted between the charger and the fence. The arrestor is to be on the fence side of the lightning choke coil. As the surge of electrical energy caused by a lightning strike travels through the choke coil, the inductive loops of the coil cause a reverse flow of current. This in turn generates a magnetic field which adds time to the current flow. Since lightning always takes the path of least resistance to ground, the surge is routed away from your charger. This brings us to the lightning arrestor. The lightning arrestor and its ground bed should be at least 40 feet from your charger's ground bed as well as any other existing home or utility grounds, water supply systems, or milking systems. It should have as many ground rods as the charger, preferably one more. We carry two different types of lightning arrestors: the twin tower por- celain (MLA) and the Koltec weather- proof plastic arrestor (MLA-I). Both give the lightning surge an easier path to take by diverting it to the ground bed of the arrestors. 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